Well is there a sign on the park property that states the name of the park and anything else that reveals who owns the property? If there is a sign
designating it as a public park it goes under the rule of assumption that if the parking lot is on park land then it exists for park patrons.

I myself have the same problem out here in Illinois, a public park that we are forced to park at and pay a pass for.

Probably not, all it would need is something in your towns by-laws that says something along those lines. It might not add that there needs to be
signage. You should be able to look it up though. They might be trying to pull a swiftie on the young folks and scare them away from the park.

It's park (city) property. And they will ticket people who park there for a long time and are not using the park facilities.

I suspect (given your "I and every other junior" statement) that the city's gotten a LOT of complaints by people wanting to use the park who find
that there's no parking spaces and that there's nobody in the park.

Public land is sadly, not as public as we'd like it to be. I'm not a lawyer, nor do I yada yada yada...but I I'd let it go since there's no money
involved - yet. Then your chances would probably be 50- 50 you could beat it, if you had a sympathetic judge and could prove no signs prohibiting
parking here.

Question: why didn't you park at the school?

When I was a boy, we didn't have cars. We had to walk uphill to school, for five miles, in both directions. And we were thankful for it! (just
kidding,,,).

6. No person shall park or store any motorcar, motorcycle, bicycle, wagon or other vehicle within a County Park or Recreation Area except in
areas designated and posted for such purposes. Parking areas and thoroughfares are limited to use by park patrons only and for the purpose of driving
to park a vehicle.

HOWEVER

At the beginning of the section they define the terms they use.

PARK RANGERS OR OFFICERS - any person employed by the Middlesex County Parks Department as a Park Ranger or Special Officer or any municipal or
State Police Officer.

PARKING PLACE - any part of any drive or space designated as a place for the standing of vehicles.

PATH - shall mean any footpath, walk or any path maintained for pedestrians.

Originally posted by Cutwolf
Where is patron? What makes me a patron? If I arrive early, spend 30 minutes in the park with my girlfriend, and then go to school, am I patron? Or
does patron designate a specific time limit?

If you can prove that you spend time enjoying the parks services daily then I think you could beat the charge.

JSO, don't foget those danged blizzards while walking up hill to and from school.

My guess is that it is only a warning and no action will be taken if you stop parking there. However, if you want to park there, get info on town laws
first. One must remember that there are many laws in towns that are never posted anywhere. Some are even dumb laws that make no sense such as cops
having to honk and wait two minutes before approaching a car that they suspect people having sex in. They exist, but people don't know them.

In my opinion, you should not fight this one. The law states parking is for park patrons only. If you go to the park for 30 minutes and then to
school, you are no longer a park patron, you left the park.

Is it really worth the fight, wouldn't it be easier to find another place to park ?

Same thing happened at my school when I was a junior 7 years ago. They will ticket you. You are a patron of the park as long as you are at the
park. As soon as you leave the park, you are no longer a patron, and therefore are parked illegaly. The cops store your liscense plate number when
they write the warning. Chances are, anyone who has a first offense after this event will still get a warning, where as any car that has gotten a
warning will get a ticket.

How would I lose this one? I do not know what a patron is. I spent 30 minutes in the park. I support the park. By dictionary definition, I am a
patron. By law definition - wait, there is no law definition. Without a definition of the components of the law you have no law. This is what a legal
loophole is.

Originally posted by Cutwolf
How would I lose this one? I do not know what a patron is. I spent 30 minutes in the park. I support the park. By dictionary definition, I am a
patron. By law definition - wait, there is no law definition. Without a definition of the components of the law you have no law. This is what a legal
loophole is.

Once you left the park you were no longer a patron for that sepcific time frame.

I'll guarantee you that if you fight this, and say, I parked my car and spent time in the park and then went to school and came back to the park
later in the day, so I left my car there, they'll say that you should have taken your car out of the park when you went to school and brought it
back and parked again when you were ready to be a patron again.

This content community relies on user-generated content from our member contributors. The opinions of our members are not those of site ownership who maintains strict editorial agnosticism and simply provides a collaborative venue for free expression.